EDIT: 27 Dec 2014:
Forget what I said
below. Thanks to Janet Province and Dennis Palmer (in particular),
this convention is dead. You should see these two posts for updates:
https://ideatrash.net/2014/12/context-is-dead-thank-jan-province-and.html
https://ideatrash.net/2014/12/mark-freemans-statement-on-context.html
(end edit)
Hi folks. A few days ago, I told you I was resigning from my position
as programming director for Context. To put it mildly, quite a bit has
happened since then.
I learned late last night that the board met and dissolved itself. The
convention is starting over, with last year’s Con Chairs (who were not
part of the resistance I experienced) starting over.
I am uncertain what, if any, role I will personally have at this point.
There’s two things I’d ask of you:
* Help spread the word that there has been a significant change in the composition of the leadership of the convention. This change resolves the concerns that led to my resignation.
* They’re going to need help. If you would like to see Context to
continue and build on all the excellent stuff that happened with Context
27 (and it was excellent), I’d ask you to volunteer to the
extent you are able. They will need people for the board, Con-Com (I’m
told that’s the right abbreviation), and volunteers for the event
itself.
Thank you for your support and patience through this difficult weekend.
Context has been pretty wonderful for me the past several years, but I think I'd have given it a miss this year if something as serious as harassment was permitted.
At least two of the West Ohio Writers' Association members who attended Context for the first time this year really loved it. I'll tell them and the rest of the group about the situation, and see if they want to look into volunteer opportunities.
Thank you for your efforts to enforce the rules that helped make Context such a great convention in the past.
Luckily, Rebecca, it looks like it won't be a problem in the future as well.